When is saul name changed to paul

So God change the inerman not the name of the person…. Your email address will not be published. Exact matches only. Search in title. Search in content. Search in excerpt. Bob Dodson. For Romans, the third name, called the cognomen, was the one most commonly used. The other two were used formally, like on birth certificates or other legal documents. Having different names for different cultures was a somewhat common practice.

And several examples can be found in non-biblical accounts from the time, such as Josephus. While Paul was in his early phase of ministry, it would have been more beneficial to use his Jewish name, Saul. Even when he ministered in mainly Gentile Antioch, he joined a team of leaders that was almost all Jewish Acts , and so using his Jewish name would have been more natural.

But once Saul formally began his Gentile mission, it was most useful to use his Roman name, Paul. Is this claim, that Paul always had both names, some crazy new idea? All the Acts commentaries on my shelf agree with this evaluation see the excellent commentaries by Craig Keener, Darrell Bock, F. Bruce and I. Index Prior Next. See Also: Questions and Answers regarding Paul.

Question: Why was Saul's name changed to Paul? But after his conversion Saul determined to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, so he dusted off his Roman name and became known as Paul, a name Gentiles were accustomed to. His method was to put people at their ease and to approach them with his message in a language and style they could relate to.

We should take a cue from Paul as we engage in apologetics work. We want to speak to people in their own styles, so far as we can, and we want to address their particular concerns.